I know I am not a T1 material, I am a big time sucker for LSAT: I have been studying for it for a year, and I just can't put up to 160. So I am planning to go to a T3 or T4 schools, probably CUNY LS since it's cheap. From my research, I notice that only ppl who go to top 30s LS can come out making $160k (median starting salaries for lawyers). Is that true?

You'll be fortunate if you can find a job out of law school that will pay you $40-50K and provide you with good experience. Nobody should go to law school (minus students at the truly elite law schools) if you can't live with this as a realistic possibility. If money is your driver, go find work with a company that will pay for you to get your MBA.

MBA"s aren't much better. Nobody what type of education your receive there is a real possibility you will not find a job. There is also a real possibility you will find a job education across the board is a huge risk and there is no guaranteed way to earn a lot of money (at a profit.) The scratcher idea would work great for making 160k. Other than that there is no profession that guarantees you anything. It really comes to being in the right place at the right time and being good at your job.

Yep pretty much my point. There is a lot less competition for attorney jobs than other positions. When I had my Bachelor's degree people weren't exactly flocking to me either and there are a lot more people with B.A's than J.D's so it is actually easier to get an attorney job than many other professions. However, it is not easy not anywhere and it never has been. Read any employment/college book over the last 50 years nothing will say you are guaranteed a job. Unless of course as you pointed out you go to Westpoint, Annapolis, or the Air Force Academy then you are guaranteed a commission. No school and no degree guarantee you anything. There are unemployed Harvard Law School grads out there. Harvard will not guaratnee a full refund to any student that doesn't pass the bar or find a job. Education is a risk period.

Starting out very few if any lawyers make 160k even from t14 schools. Go to law school if you want to be a lawyer, but not to make money. The reality is no degree guarantees you a fortune. Not an MBA, J.D, M.D, whatever it may be odds are you will never become a millionaire. There are plenty of t3/4 grads that have jobs as lawyers and there are plenty that don't. Same is true of people with Bachelor's, MBA's, M.D.s etc and a graduate from any school in any profession will likely say finding a job sucks. However, if you graduate from an ABA school pass the bar and work for as a lawyer for 20+ years then you will likely make a decent chunk of change and more importantly if you wanted to be a lawyer you would have enjoyed your career. There is no guaranteed way to get rich quick, but using common sense you can figure most T14 law school grad are going to make more than Tier 3/4 school grad. This is not always the case, but it is the majority of the time. I attend a tier 4 school and have really enjoyed it and made decent money so far. I also have a huge scholarship so I won't have much debt at graduation, which is awesome. A few of my friends that graduated from my school obtained jobs ranging from 50-100k. There are others who are still looking for a job and others who have not passed the bar yet. Some are really happy with their jobs thus far and others are not. It is really hard to say what will happen, but one thing is for sure if your main concern is money and money alone DO NOT go to law school. It is overpriced and the odds are you will never be a millionaire. However, if you are a person that wants to go into law because you want to be a Public Defender, D.A, or have some issue you want to resolve going to law school can be a great investment of time and money. This is because you cannot be a lawyer without going to law school. (I know there are some very complex ways to get around this, but they are so onerous it is not practical.)

So go to law school if you want to be a lawyer. If you want to make a fortune then I don't want to tell you. If someone knows of a guaranteed and easy way to make 160k let me know I'm sure everyone on this board including myself would like to know.